2025 (Not The) Snowy Ride - Day 3

DAY 3

It was a bit of a dusty start this morning. Many beers and some very fine wines were consumed all in the name of spreading the wealth to these small Victorian towns.....but luckily it was just a short stagger across the road to one of the many cafe' that lined the main street. 

It looks like the mountain bike trails have really injected some sustainable life into Omeo.

 There were a number of bike hire shops in town now and I saw plenty of bikes getting around.

In fact, the Hunt 1000 was being run and we had passed many bikepacking riders yesterday and we would again today. The Hunt 1000 is a gruelling 1000 kilometre bikepacking route from Canberra to Melbourne via many, many very big hills in our alpine region. I spoke with these two guys yesterday at the Benambra hotel while they were taking a break and it sounded as if the ride was far tougher than they had been expecting. I had deduced that years ago and asked mates to slap me silly if I ever announced an intention to ride it!

After a slap up breakfast with the our group, we took a wander around town.

There was a good map at the information centre that I would have loved to score a copy of for future planning, however they were closed....on a Saturday morning......when most visitors would be likely seeking information....

Luckily, I bumped into a local bloke and his wife whom I had also seen at the Benambra pub yesterday. He owned a KTM 890 and had given me some ideas on trails to ride yesterday. Today he added a couple more to the list, including one that cut off a large number of the very tight and slow corners on this end of the Omeo Highway - The Knocker Track. It linked back on just the other side of Glen Valley, some 45 kilometres along the Omeo Highway. I was interested in checking it out but the point that it linked back on was a bit far (15km) past where we would be turning up Falls Creek road today. But it might work out tomorrow when we are heading to Mitta Mitta - so I filed it away for tomorrow.

Wandering back to the pub we got changed into our riding gear and prepared to head off for the day. It was a bit like herding cats this morning but we didn't have far to ride so it didn't really matter.

We snaked our way out the Omeo highway and the group settled into it's rhythm with the sports bikes picking their way through us ADV riders. We would be stopping at the Blue Duck in at Anglers Rest to regroup and give the legs a rest so there was no great rush.

I grabbed the drone out just as another large group of riders stopped on the other side of the road. One of their guys was fascinated with it. I let Doug fly it to show how simple it was to operate.

Mounting up again we charged off toward the Bogong High Plains Road. I waited at the turn for a moment to make sure the next rider didn't miss the turn, then chased Rick on the climb up the mountain. This road is a narrow and twisting one. Rick's Guzzi sounded awesome as he nailed it out of corners. I was giving my quick shifter and down blipper a thrashing too. It is amazing how well the 80/20 tyres on our bikes performed on the blacktop. We passed quite a few cyclists grinding up the hill and I gave them plenty of space as I know how it sucks to be buzzed by motorists who are just lazy or ignorant.

As we climbed right up to the base of the overcast I recognised the camping spot that we used to camp at with the kids over the summer break for a few years prior to Covid striking. I love this part of the world so I let Rick go and stopped for a couple of photos.

The cloud base was almost touching our heads here at 1640m (5380ft) above sea level. It was pleasantly cold, just like I remember it. In fact, that is why we camped at Langfords West - because it was cool to cold in the middle of a scorching Aussie summer.

"Speedy" zipping by.

I rode the rest of the way into Falls Creek by myself, enjoying the next thirteen kilometres of flowing tarmac while the cloud virtually touched the top of my helmet.

Riding into the fringes of Falls Creek the guys were parked up in the first carpark they came to, catching their breath.

Everyone was buzzing from the climb. I grabbed the drone out to get that shot, plus a few others.

I was a bit cheesed that we didn't stop at the main car park as that is where the mountain bike hub and more importantly, the cafe' is. When we rode past it became obvious that we made the right decision to stop where we did as there was a huge mountainbike event going on and the main carpark was the event centre and was blocked off.

We continued down the mountain and enjoyed the thirty kilometres of twisting goodness into Mt Beauty. There was a train of six of use punting it along pretty quickly and almost no traffic. It doesn't get any better than that.

Well, unless you add apple pie to it! That was the icing on the cake that was had in Mt Beauty!

I must come back here with the bicycle again. There is so much to explore in this neck of the woods. The Mt Beauty to Bright ride would be good on a mtb or the adv bike.

But today we were taking the Tawonga Gap road to Bright. This used to be one of the highlights for Steve and I when we rode to Phillip Island back in the '90s. It didn't disappoint too much today, apart from the many road bicycles and Saturday morning drivers who we had to watch out for. Some of the cyclists weren't giving us much room to pass, sitting in the middle of the lane. These are the ones that give all cyclists a bad rap.

Anyway, we had a ball across Tawonga gap, turning left immediately onto the Great Alpine road just south of Bright. No stopping, we didn't want any cars re-catching us....

Though, we did stop down the road at Harrietville as the pub looked so inviting with its leafy green beer garden out the front!

We only stopped long enough for one beer but there was some discussion about making this a base of operations on next year's ride, such was the ambiance.

Leaving Harrietville, Dave, Stu, Myself and Thomas formed into a train and attacked the climb up to Mt Hotham. This is a truely awesome bit of tarmac right from the edge of Harrietville until Hotham Village. Our bikes were making glorious music all the way up the mountain.....until I peeled off for a photo stop at Dannys Lookout.

 

Some of the most iconic Victorian High Country bends are right around here and it took some will power to drop out of the train for these photos, but I love this lookout, having stopped here so many times in the past.

1999.

2022.

The skies were a bit moodier today but that gave great contrast for the photos.

Rounding a few corners I stopped to get a photo with some remnants of this years snows in it.....

.....not realising this is the exact spot Steve and I stopped on our way back from P.I. in October '99.

I caught up with the others just up the road at Hotham Village where they were taking in the views from the main car park.

I recall Steve saying that the pub at Dinner Plain, just down the road, had craft beer on tap and I convinced Geoffrey (not a hard task there!), Rick and Karen to pull in for a cheeky pint as we only had 55 kilometres until we were back in Omeo and it was only 3pm.If we got back to The Golden Age too soon it would be carnage....

Google maps said the pub was open but when we pulled in the note on the front door disappointingly said "see you next year".

Oh well.

So, we chased Geoff down the hill to Omeo. I was chatting to Rick on the helmet comms and told him that I was going to go out to Parish Boundary road again for some more photos (and to stay away from the pub a bit longer, if I'm honest). He wasn't keen as he wanted to edit his GoPro footage from the day. That was fine. As I said, I don't mind looking around by myself.

I was so glad that I did go as it is a stunning little ride.

It was just as windy today but at least I could take my time and faff around.

Doing Parish Boundary road from west to east this time I came into Omeo on the Benambra road, where I spied a "scenic lookout". McMillan Lookout was worth a look I thought....but after today's views, it wasn't so much....

Moseying back into town I parked up at the pub and struggled to find a spot! The place was heaving with motorcyclists and mountain bikers. The publican later told me it is only us two groups that keep the pub going.

I hit the shower and was back down to join the lads and ladette, sitting in the biting sun out the front of the pub. Much bench racing occurred. Much fine beer drinking also occured. That dark amber fluid was a local drop and it was so good we drank the place dry of it!

We soon moved inside for dinner and I had that huge steak on my mind. It was so tender and well cooked I couldn't believe they were giving it away for $40! This would be a $70-$80 steak any day of the week in a city pub. All washed down with a very nice merlot....or two.

Today was an easy day, almost the "rest" day of the trip at just 269 kilometres. It was another great day on the bikes with a great bunch of people. I keep asking myself does it get any better than this?! Well, we find out tomorrow!

DAY 4 here.

Cheers.

The Australian Armour And Artillery Museum

 Sort of following on from meeting Steve in my last post, I had a whole day off in Cairns the other day. The no brainer decision was to finally go check out the Australian Armour And Artillery museum located a short way from Cairns, at Smithfield.

I hadn't really planned ahead so I messaged Steve as I arrived.

Where is Steve?

My neighbour, Dan, also got onto him so within ten minutes of arriving I was standing on top of a Russian BMP troop carrier! Having one of the main men leading me made it a-ok as all the signage everywhere was "please do not climb on the tanks".

Having watched some of the action from the Russian-Ukraine conflict over the last two years, like everyone else I was surprised with how small looking explosions seemed to destroy the Russian BMPs. I can tell you that even though the experts say the BMP is a soft target I was very surprised at how solid the skin/armour felt to the touch! They are made of decently thick steel.  Obviously, the explosives used are far more effective than they appear on video when they give a little puff of smoke, yet destroy the BMP!

T-72

Steve also let me sit in the driver's seat of the Russian T-72 tank (can't believe this museum has an operational version of this currently operational Russian tank!!) and can I just say it was an extremely confined space barely suited to a twenty year old,  let alone my 50+ frame! It was a bit of a struggle to climb in and back out. He offered a climb into the turret but I declined as it looked like even more gymnastic moves would be required.

Steve then took me for a look through the workshop which is a staff only afair, so I felt suitably privileged.  The boys were working on straightening the side of a Panzer II (I think) as we looked on. Hot work in this very humid climate!

Steve showed me the transmission of the Panzer II Wespe which he had only just opened up (with much effort) and we marvelled at how clean it was inside as it hadn't been opened since it was made in 1943! I asked about some stamps and engravings inside the cases and Steve said they were from the technicians who built the transmission in 1943. While this was a transmission in a German tank, who were our enemy, it really made me think about the man (or woman) who had stamped their mark on this part ~82 years ago. With all of the forced labour the German regime used during the war, intentional sabotage was rife and there was a need to tie workers efforts the material that they produced, hence the identifying stamps. (Watch Steve's YouTube videos for more on this). Was this particular worker a German patriot doing his best or a forced labourer trying to stay alive? 😐

Bidding Steve farewell and thanking him for the awesome personal tour I headed back into the main museum.  It was pissing down with rain now which was welcome as it cooled the horrible north Queensland heat that had been building this morning. (remember that while these guys are heating steel red hot to bend and straighten it or loosen bolts etc with heat, the climate is already uncomfortably hot at 30°+ and 90% humidity, so they are working in a verg challenging environment).

I spent over three hours after leaving Steve looking around the museum and pretty much all I did was take a photo of a tank and its story board then move on, to look at later.  You WILL need a few days to take this museum in properly so, luckily the museum entry fee gives you three days entry to the museum! Seriously, there is SO much to see here!

I am going to do a photo dump of some of the exhibits with the story board below each photo with the details.  I'll comment occasionally where I think I need to make a point. 

STRAP IN!

As I was coming back from the workshops, the first section that you pass through is the German section. Growing up reading Commando comics there was a fascination with German military vehicles and this section was like being surrounded by accurate models - but only they weren't  - they were the real deal and almost all of them are running examples!

Starting with the ultimate fear inducing German tank of WWII, The Tiger I...this thing is massive! 

Battle damage sustained on the eastern front.

The basic hull is taller than I am. A very imposing tank!

The Tiger I restoration Super Cut is here if you want to watch.

This Zundap sidecar outfit was very interesting and an iconic vehicle that makes an appearance is almost every WWII movie that features German troops.

Interesting two wheel drive setup.

The Stug III restoration ran for quite some time and there were detailed videos made all through the process. The finished example is very impressive and Kurt has just released a mega compilation of the complete rebuild, all in the one video. I have posted it below if you are interested.

The ubiquitous 88mm cannon.

The Panzer I was the tank Germany used to begin the war as they rolled across Poland in 1939. I was surprised at how small they were. Not much bigger than a British Bren Gun Carrier really.

A selfie to compare the height of the Panzer I to that of the Tiger I further above.

T-34 driver's seat.

They have an interesting video of the story of this Grant tank.

And this is what one looks like restored.

Next to the Grant tanks was an Amtrax. They were the amphibious landing vehicle used by the US Marines during the Pacific campaign of WWII. I was blown away by how big they are! Jumping over the sides would lead to a large drop!

Me again for a bit of scale. I'm 178cm.

And here is a standard troop carrying Amtrax.

Aussie inginuity from the North African campaign. Australian troops took a very unfortunate German general and his staff car out at the beginning of the Siege of Tobruk with a similar "bush artillery" setup.

This next tank is a very rare example and was recently acquired by the museum. It is awaiting restoration.

This Panhard is also a very unusual vehicle. This one was rebuilt from two hulls that they acquired from a French army testing range.

These rockets were tested against the tyres on the Panhard. I had always wondered what the internal construction of rubber wheels was on rubber tyred military vehicles. Now I could clearly see!

The full restoration of the Panhard is below.

This unusual looking exhibit is the mock-up of a Sherman tank turret that was used for the filming of the movie "Fury" which starred Brad Pitt as a tank commander in WWII. The mock up is 30% larger than the original tank so that they could get the cameras in there with the actors.

I'll finish up with a couple of photos of an Aussie Leopard tank. I have a vivid memory these rolling past my school classroom on the back of trucks (which was right next to the highway) when I was in Year 2 - so probably in 1977. They would have been brand new then!

The engine/transmission package can be changed out in twenty minutes apparently. Serviceability is a feature of western tanks that apparently is not seen in Eastern tanks or German WWII stuff.

A quick look downstairs and the air conditioning down there was very welcome! The museum has a large collection of WWII small arms on display. They also have a shooting range down there where you can pay a fee to fire a range of those WWII rifles.

I have a heap more photos but this has been a photo overload post as it is! For more information check out the Australian Armour and Artillry Museum's website or their excellent YouTube channel. They also have AusArmourFest each August where for one long weekend they get most of their operational vehicles out and drive them around their grounds. A must see for any WWII history enthusiast.

Cheers.